The following information was obtained through Invisible Children and on-the-ground partners. We are working to gather more information on these events and are sending members of our team to get the full story:
+ November 11th at Duru, DRC: A 15-year-old boy, who was abducted by the LRA five months ago from Aba, DRC, escaped. He said he was with a group that stole goods from three hunters at Madoro earlier the same day. He gave his name and the name of his parents, who still reside in Aba. He is currently with security forces in Duru.
+ November 9th at Mabanga, DRC: An LRA soldier of Ugandan nationality was captured by the local population while he was looting cassava from a field. He was handed over to local security forces. The soldier speaks Acholi and Lingala, was wearing a tattered military uniform, and was carrying an AK-47. He reportedly said that “several others” were in the bush and that they wanted to defect, but that they were beyond the Mbuele river, roughly 45 km away. He also said that if the waters go down, they will surrender. The number and leader of the potential defectors are unknown.
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This fall as part of our campaign #zeroLRA, we are celebrating everything – every escape, every name, and every life. We will be working over the next few days to get as much information as we can about these individuals who have just come out of the LRA. Every time someone escapes from Joseph Kony’s LRA, the war is over for that one person. That’s something to celebrate.
These mark the first LRA escapes since Opondo on August 21, 2013.
We will provide updates as we receive them.
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